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Suppose I told you that, behind the closed doors of a nearby animal farm, something terrible was going on with the animals: vicious abuse and neglect, atrocious conditions, disease and agonizing death.

You would probably want to expose it, protect the animals and punish the offenders. So would I. But instead of seeing more laws dedicated to curbing such abuse, we’re seeing a rash of state laws designed to keep it secret.

Some of these whistleblower suppression laws—coined “ag-gag” by food writer Mark Bittman—aggressively criminalize first-hand documenting and/or reporting of the day-to-day activities of industrial farms, while doing nothing to contain the abuse. Other approaches are designed to seem animal-friendly, but actually hinder investigators and whistleblowers by requiring reporting of witnessed abuse within such a short and arbitrary period of time that adequate documentation of a pattern of abuse is impossible.

The first ag-gag bill of 2014 has already been introduced—right on the heels of a previous one’s defeat—and will be heard in the Corrections and Criminal Law committee on Tuesday at the Indiana State House. If passed, S.B. 101 could make felons out of whistleblowers exposing unethical or illegal activities on industrial farms. A coalition [PDF] of civil liberties, public health, food safety, environmental, food justice, animal welfare, legal, workers’ rights, journalism and First Amendment organizations is calling on the Indiana legislature to reject the bill.

In 2012, ag-gag bills became law in Missouri, Iowa and Utah—joining Montana, North Dakota and Kansas. This “goes against everything this country has stood for since its inception,” wrote one local journalist about an ag-gag bill introduced in Pennsylvania. But the good news is that, of 15 ag-gag bills introduced in 11 states in 2013, none passed.

This pattern of failure should tell you something about the fatal flaws the laws have in common.

Veteran journalist Bill Moyers spoke about ag-gag laws in 2013, pointing out another surprising commonality among these bills in terms of how they were drafted, why, and by whom.

Factory farm owners will tell you they’re meeting a critical consumer need and treating their animals humanely (if so, why do they need protection from truth-tellers?). But if we’ve learned anything about factory farms, it’s that we can’t leave the safety of those animals to chance:

In 2011, Mercy for Animals released a video shot inside a North Carolina turkey factory farm owned by Butterball. The video shows frightened turkeys being violently kicked, thrown hard against the side of a truck and dragged across the floor. The video also shows birds with bloody open wounds, broken bones and diseased eyes.

Another Mercy for Animals investigation in Texas revealed the depraved abuse of calves at a cattle company in the Texas panhandle.

In case after case, whistleblowers are the only things standing between farm animals and violent abuse—and in some cases, between you and contaminated food. Similarly shocking journalistic exposés led directly to the passage of the federal Meat Inspection Act, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and the eventual formation of the federal Food and Drug Administration.

“Videotaping at factory farms wouldn’t be necessary if the industry were properly regulated. But it isn’t,” writes Bittman in his New York Times column. “The biggest problem of all is that we’ve created a system in which standard factory-farming practices are inhumane… If you’re raising and killing 10 billion animals every year, some abuse is pretty much guaranteed.”

There are several precautions you can take to keep your pet’s paws and skin safe and comfortable. First, keep your pet’s paws clean and dry after walks and time spent outside in the cold. Bring a towel on long walks to clean off stinging, irritated paws. After each walk, wash and dry your pet’s feet to remove ice, salt and chemicals—and check for cracks in paw pads or redness between the toes. Massaging petroleum jelly into your pet’s paw pads before and after going outside will help moisturize and protect them.

Just as dressing your pet in a sweater or coat can keep them warm on the coldest days, booties can be very effective as they help minimize contact with painful salt crystals, poisonous anti-freeze and chemical ice-melting agents. They can also help prevent irritating sand and salt from getting lodged between bare toes.

You should also pay special attention to your pet’s fur. Trim long-haired dogs to minimize the clinging of ice balls, salt crystals and de-icing chemicals that can dry on the skin. Brushing your pet regularly helps get rid of dead hair, stimulates blood circulation and improves the skin’s overall condition.

After Denise’s 19-year-old cat, LeMew, passed away, she wasn’t interested in getting another companion. But as time went by, she missed the warmth and love of a feline friend. After six months, she knew it was time to adopt again. Here is her Happy Tail:

I first spotted Francis on Petfinder.com. When his picture popped up, I just knew he was the one. My husband and I were getting ready to leave town for the holidays, but I emailed about Francis anyway. I crossed my fingers that he would still be available when we returned. The day we got back, I called the shelter and sure enough, he was still there! We drove out to the Kiski Valley Cat & Kitten Rescue in Apollo, Pennsylvania, and it was love at first sight. The frightened 9-month-old was put into my arms, and there was no way I was going to leave without him. Francis came home with us and today, he is a happy boy. Rescuing an animal is the best possible way to start the New Year off right!

Have you adopted a pet? Email us your story at[email protected], and we might feature it on the blog!

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“We are going to quickly and aggressively move to make horse carriages no longer a part of the landscape,” he said. “They are not humane, they are not appropriate for the year 2014. It's over. So, just watch us do it.”

As an organization that’s fought for humane treatment of horses since our founding in 1866, we share the mayor’s philosophy that no economic counter-argument stands up to the sheer ridiculousness of this antiquated tradition. New York simply has a higher standard.

So we’re doing our part by joining the mayor’s call, standing with partners like NYCLASS, and counteracting deep troughs of misinformation with expert veterinary and animal relocation expertise. We stand ready to tap into our network of rescue partners to secure potential homes for the horses— facilities and people willing and able to open their hearts and homes to these animals.

Are there legitimate concerns about lost jobs? Absolutely. We share those concerns and encourage new ideas to address them. But using fear over facts to sway this debate is as irresponsible as suggesting strained carriage horses can be compensated with “vacation time.”

This is a conversation the city needs to have. But it needs to be placed in a context of hard truth, not hyperbolic bias. New Yorkers deserve that. And so do the animals with whom we share the city.

We applaud efforts clearly in motion to take these horses off city streets, pushing both them and New York itself into a more civilized future that need not be feared.

Ross is the kind of cat who loves to be the life of the party. This sweet feline is social and affectionate, especially once you get to know him. He enjoys plenty of attention and yummy treats!

Rosshas special some special needs potential adopters should be aware of. He is epileptic, and requires regular medication to prevent seizures. Our medical team can talk with you more about Ross’s condition. He would do best in a quiet household with an experienced adopter and kids 10-and-up. With proper introductions, Ross will get along just fine with other cats. Adopt Ross today!

Rossis available for adoption at the ASPCA Adoption Center. If you are interested in adopting please call our Adoptions department in New York City at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4120. To learn more about Ross, please visit his page.

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